My lads first experience

[Activ8]

So my lad (11 years old) knows I shoot & ive been through safety with him along with him coming to watch me at the range twice before. We also have a springer air rifle that he's shot a few times but that's as far as his experience has gone.

For the last few months he's been bugging me about shooting the .22lr bolt action & getting in to it himself. This has been on my mind with me chopping & changing as to whether to let him or not? He doesn't live with me you see & his mum doesn't know I shoot, let alone own any firearms & id rather keep it that way! My lad knows the rules though & that he tells no living soul which he's abided too.

last week I spoke to my club secretary who told me they were having an induction night on the Monday the 10th (last night) & there was a spot available if he wanted. I took the decision to allow him to attend thinking worst case he became educated & gained a healthier respect of shooting/firearms, & on the condition he didn't ask for his own FAC until he turns 18 (I'll not hold my breath on that one though ). As a minor he cannot shoot on his own until 14 & cannot visit MOD ranges either regardless of my presence. So knowing I'll be with him all the time helped sway me.

So we turned up, filled out his paperwork & gave his passport photos etc. we then did his induction going through everything he'd need to know from safety to handling a firearm & rounds. It was then off to the range for his first ever shots with a .22lr. The club gave him a modified Ruger 10/22 which looked the part in its tactical stock to my lads delight. However, it had a really heavy trigger so he struggled to use it correctly & as a result found he snatched at his shots a lot & struggled with the non magnified red dot scope (the red dot practically cover the target so it was a hit & hope situation).

After his initial 10 rounds we decided to change the rifle to my CZ 452 silhouette bolt action, which has a much lighter trigger & decent enough scope. He loved it! & I mean loved it, the fact it has a bipod helped him too as the Ruger moved too much on the bench rest for him. He did 20 rounds & this was his target... Have to say I was impressed as he listened to instruction & took on board the tips he was given.



In the end I'm glad I took him & im proud of his shooting considering it was his first ever session on a rimfire rifle. I think he's hooked now & has already said he much prefers the bolt action to semi auto which I found interesting as expected him to be giddy at the semi auto? Anyway, so we now have another shooter amoungst the ranks.

Today's lesson... How to clean our rifles!

[Sim G]

Great day! My father taught me and his, him. Likewise, I taught my boy. But it was a Fusilier Corporal called Lister who taught me what a clean rifle really is!

A legacy of knowledge and skills, not baubles is what we should give our children.

Nice job.

[Robert303]

Well done. We need as many youngsters as possible. Even if he does not carry on he will have seen how proper safe shooting is carried out and will recognise some of the stuff the police / press / politicians come out with is rubbish. When possible it's always a good idea to take family / friends / neighbours to a Club 'Guest Day' to 'De mystify' the sport. As Kate Hooey, about the only decent Labour MP there was, explained teaching youngsters to handle a firearm responsibly removes ther 'Glamour' and 'Mystique of firearms as seen on computer games etc.

[Activ8]

Cheers, & funnily enough the club have a guest BBQ day at the end of the month so my plan is to try & introduce a friend who's been talking about taking up shooting too.
As it's the school holidays he's at mine this week (my lad not my friend ha) & he's not shut up about it today & going over what he's learnt so that's imprinted in his mind now & can only be a good thing. When we were cleaning the rifle he showed me it was clear as he passed it me, so again that's now something that's in his thought process.
I'm glad I gave in to my concerns & let him experience shooting first hand, it'll also be something we can look forward to when he stays at mine.

[ColinR]

Interesting Activ8. My girlfriend was hugely anti gun and made it very clear under no circumstances would I encourage her then fourteen year old son to go shooting, despite his interest and the fact I had already bought him the NRA Probationary Course as a 14th birthday present. Anyway, as a trip out for his fifteenth birthday he said he wanted to go to see Bisley. With some reluctance she agreed and expecting to see a load of psychopaths running around Bisley as if acting out a computer game was totally blown away by the calm sophistication of the place and everything that went with it. So much so that we booked the dates for the boys Probationary Course there and then.

He is now approaching nineteen, has his own FAC and is a superb shot with just about anything he can lay hands on. It has been a real joy to teach this lad who has been attentive and committed throughout. His mother is now more understanding about shooting and has even shot herself a few times and when consistently hitting 10 inch plates in Wales at 740 yards in a howling gale announced "this is too easy!" At which point the Instructor came over and whispered in our ears "Boys, don't F*** with Bonni"

Bonni will freely admit she has seen many positive changes in her son since he became involved with shooting and now understands it is a sport just like any other sport. Added to which the boys lifelong ambition to join the Marines is rapidly approaching and despite her reservations she accepts that if someone is going to shoot at you it pays to be a better shot than they are.

The point of this is that with the right introduction to shooting even the most anti of Anti's might be swayed. There is so much bad press about shooting and the community as a whole that when confronted with the discipline and calm of shooting in the real world it is far from the preconceived ideas imposed by the media. So don't be shy about the fact you are teaching this boy to shoot.

[20series]

When Debs and Tobi first moved in, I took Tobi who was 12 at the time to a guest day, we put an A4 Huns Head up at 50 and he pummeled it with my .38/357 under lever. I got him a CZ .22 Sillouette like you have and he puts tidy groups in. Now we all shoot at teh club and enjoy it,

Alan

[lasbrisas]

This all sounds very familiar to me, we live very close to Bisley and approx 6 years ago we went to one of the open days, after that me and my 2 boys (13 and 11) were hooked, we all have our own FAC and SGC. I totally agree that we need more young shooters although it is sad to say that some club members don't exactly encourage it and my youngest is now not so keen, I won't go into details but me and the eldest just ignore them.

[Ginger]

Good for you Activ8, my wife is supportive about shooting and sees it as a sport, but I dont think she would be impressed if I went bunny bashing.

I built up a Ruger 10/22 with a tapco stock for my lads 6th birthday, I have taken him on and off since then, he is now 12, but he really has the bug now and takes safety very seriously.

We are very lucky at both my clubs that they are a very friendly bunch and invite him to try their weapons too and also have some instruction from someone other than Dad, (cos Dad's know nothing :) ). He now likes both Bolt and Semi's so when things are tight the bolt comes out to slow the rate of fire.

So far he has shot at 25 indoors and 25/ 50 & 100 outdoors.

Lasbrisas, the open days at Bisley were good fun, us that coached really enjoyed it, just a shame the NRA spoiled things.